William e



(ModeL) W. R. HOPPMANN.'

MUSIC HOLDER.

No. 289,658. Patnted 1166.4, 1883.

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N E STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VILLIAM It. HOFFMANN, OF OREGON, MISSOURI.

MUSIC-HOLDER.

. a SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 289,658, dated December 4, 1883,

Application filed May 31, 1883.

I") at whom it may concern.-

Be it knownthat I, \VILLIAM R. HOFF- uANN, of Oregon, in the county of Holt and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Music-Holders, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description.

This invention is more especially designed for music-l1olders, to be used on instruments in brass and other bands; and it consists in a combination, with the opening and closing music-holders, made to shut and kept closed by a spring applied to aclamping and pivoted section or clamp, 'of an attached catch for holding the holder open, whereby great facility is afforded for putting in and taking out the music, substantially as hereinafter described.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 represents a front elevation of a music-holder having my invention applied, and Figs. 2 and 3 side elevations of the same, representing, respectively, the music-holder in its open and closed conditions.

A is the stationary head or back part of the holder, and B is the movable section or clamp thereof, pivoted at b to the section A and closed against it, or on the music between the two sections, bya spiral spring, 0, or it may be by any other suitable spring or springs. G is the stem projecting downward from the stationary section A and serving to carry the holder. Such construction of the music-holder does not differ from that of other like holders, and the same is opened to put in and take out the music as against the tension of the spring 0 by pressing inward on a lower thumb-piece, (1, arranged to project from or forming part of the movable section'B of the holder. Great inconvenience, however, is often experienced, especially when the one hand of the musician is engaged in holding the instrument, or otherwise engagedin putting the music in or taking it out of the self-closing holder. ThisI obviate by combining with the holder a catch,which,without interfering with the action of the holder in its general use,will

(Model) serve to keep the holder open when putting in or taking out music with the one hand. This catch I prefer to construct of a simple flat spring, D, fastened below to the movable section B, and provided with a head atthe top, which, when the section B is wide or fully open, bites over and on a toothed portion, 6, of the stationary section A, as shown in Fig. 3. By means of this or other suitable catch arranged to lock the movable section B when wide or fully open, a musician can use the holder in a general way-that is, can open and shut it without causing it to catch, as other music-holders are worked; but if the musician be engaged in holding the instrument with his one hand, or said hand be otherwise engaged, he can, by simply pressing a little harder than usual on the movable section B or its thumbpiece (I, so as to open the holder to its extreme limit, or nearly so, cause the holder to remain open while putting in or taking out music with his other hand, the catch for the purpose then automatically engaging to effect this result. Thus when the section B is adjusted wide or fully open, as shown in Fig. 3, the catch D passes over the tooth c to keep the holder open. This catch is readily released again, when required, by simply pressing on or springing it in from the back with the finger.

As an equivalent of the catching device shown and described, the catch, instead of being attached to the movable section of the holder, might, by modifying its shape to suit, be secured to the stationary section of the holder,-

and be arranged to engage with the movable section thereof when wide or fully open.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent In a music-holder, the combination, with the movable section B, of holder 0, having the projection e, and the flat-spring D,attached to the movable section, the latter provided at its free end with a catch, as and for the purpose specified.

WVILLIAM R. HOFFMANN.

Vitnesses:

CHARLES WV. THOMAS, LEVI ZOOK. 

